


All I Wanna Do Is Be Near

by bisexualdeanwinchester



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Harry is a yoga fan, Lots of cuddles, M/M, Niall is alone forever, There's also a lot of talk about fucking, Writer!Louis, also a mention of dicks, but there's no actual sex, that's about it, there's a mention of blowjobs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-17
Updated: 2014-10-17
Packaged: 2018-02-21 12:46:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2468669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bisexualdeanwinchester/pseuds/bisexualdeanwinchester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Or the one where Harry is a hipster yoga boy who likes doing Tai Chi outside and Louis is a fanboy who just wants to sit inside and write but they both love each other way too much<br/>(Title from Ed Sheeran's One Night)</p>
            </blockquote>





	All I Wanna Do Is Be Near

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own them or their music (imagine if I did though… oh the things I would do to Harry's hair) so yeah. Enjoy

Harry is your typical hipster: he likes headscarves, boots, yoga, weird bands, getting high off life, etc. Louis is your typical writer: he likes staying inside, the dark, fanfiction, listening to Fall Out Boy, writing, etc. Mostly they get along, but sometimes Harry's desire to do yoga out in the sun conflicts with Louis's desire to read or write disgustingly sappy cute things in the dark.  
"But I stay inside with you all the time! Can't you come outside for once? I promise you won't get diseases," Harry says to the pile of blankets next to him. He's currently lying on his tummy on the ground, talking to the pile.  
"Noooo, outside there's no outlets," whines the blanket pile. "The outernet is scary."  
Harry frowns. "Stop using stuff from Tumblr. 'Please, will you do this for me?'" he asks, hoping that the 'feelsy' (what does that even mean? He doesn't know, but he's heard Louis use the word)) quote will draw Louis out at least a little. He's rewarded with Louis's face being stuck out.  
"Why would you even say such a thing!" he says, angstily. Harry's not sure if angstily is even a word but it describes the expression on Louis's face pretty well. And speaking of pretty... Louis looks especially beautiful this morning, his hair completely messy (as far as Harry can see), the midafternoon sun reflecting in his eyes that make Harry rethink the colour blue- even his pout is beautiful.  
"C'mon, you can write while I do yoga," Harry wheedles. "And then later you can come back inside and write and I'll make you tea and we can cuddle..."  
"Or, and here's a thought, we can skip going outside, I'll write, you can make me tea, and we can cuddle. How's that?" Louis offers, retreating into the blankets.  
"No, love, the whole point is that you get outside and see the sky for a bit." Harry sits beside the soft mound and rests his head on it. Louis remains silent except for a few taps on his phone. "Lou, I'm only asking you to do this for your own good."  
"'M writing fluff, leave me 'lone," the blankets reply.  
Sighing dramatically, Harry lifts his head and says, "Fine. I guess I'll go find Zayn, maybe give him the blowjob I was saving for you..." He's rewarded with Louis indignantly poking his face out.  
"You wouldn't!" he exclaims, frowning. Harry does his best not to be blown away by Louis's pouty (read: gorgeous) face.  
"I might, if you don't come outside with me," Harry says. He hates having to do this- baiting Louis like that- (even though he'd never /ever/ give Zayn a blowie, because ewww), but lately he doesn't even see Louis's face some days, which. Not acceptable. He has to use any methods possible to get Louis's attention, and if this is what he has to resort to, then so be it. He's maybe addicted to him. Just a little.  
"Okay, okay. How long am I supposed to be exposed?" asks Louis, sounding unhappy. "And can I bring my music?"  
Harry shakes his head. Sometimes Louis is ridiculous about electronics. "No! I want you completely detached from that damn phone of yours for ten minutes." He's maybe a little upset that Louis doesn't want to spend time with him. Maybe a lot.  
"But I'm actually going somewhere for once, I was listening to Fall Out Boy the other day, and-"  
"Whatever. Just go back to your writing," Harry interrupts, because Louis is just making excuses now, and storms away, leaving Louis looking very confused.  
He ends up in his room (which is largely unused, he usually sleeps in Louis's room) breathing deeply and trying to calm down. Telling himself it doesn't matter that Louis likes writing more than spending time with him, he tries to do some yoga anyways, but can't. He keeps thinking that it'd be easier to calm down if Louis were there poking fun at him and just being his normal beautiful self. Louis (because who else would it be) knocks on Harry's door. Harry is startled because even though they close their doors occasionally, they usually don't knock. Privacy doesn't really matter when you've lived with someone for four years.  
"Hazza? You in there?" Harry can hear the hurt in his voice and it pains him.  
"Yeah. I'm here," Harry says. He really hates that Louis writes sometimes, because this happens. Louis gets too wrapped up in something and is too busy hiding under blankets and writing and sometimes completely neglects Harry. Which Harry doesn't ordinarily mind, but for some reason it bothers him today. Maybe it's because today he's feeling a little lonely.  
"Can I come in?" Another surprise. Louis never, ever respects boundaries or personal space, especially when it comes to Harry. He makes some noise that he knows Louis will take to mean yes. Louis gingerly opens the door but doesn't come in.  
"Hey," he says softly. Harry doesn't look at him, partly because he's mad and partly because it's been days since he's seen Louis without the blankets (although somehow Louis manages to shower and pee and such during his blanket periods- Harry has no idea when) and doesn't want to give in to temptation.  
"What d'you want?" asks Harry as brusquely as possible, hating it. He always forgets he's mad at Louis, so he has to work at it.  
"I'm sorry, Hazza. I know I get too wrapped up in my writing. I'm sorry I forgot to pay attention to you and I'm sorry I wouldn't go outside and do yoga with you." Louis remains standing in the doorway. Harry finally turns and takes him in. Like usual, he's stunning. His hair, completely messed up from the blanket pile, is sticking up in the back and making Harry melt a little. Louis's wrinkled hoodie (actually it's Harry's) is hanging off him over skinny jeans and Harry thinks that Louis has never looked better.  
"S'okay."  
They stand in awkward silence until Louis crosses the short distance between them and jumps (literally) into Harry's arms.  
"One of these days I'm going to drop you," Harry warns him.  
"You wouldn't," Louis asserts, and he's right, Harry wouldn't ever drop him. He'd never ever ever. Harry holds him for a moment then gently sets him down, still holding him close.  
"Love you," Louis mumbles against his chest. He closes his eyes. Harry kisses his hair and echoes him.  
"'M sorry I'm such a prick sometimes," he says.  
"You can't be a bigger prick than me. Although," Louis says, looking up at Harry, "you might be, if you make me go outside with you."  
"Alright, alright. I won't force you to. But under two conditions: the blankets go away and we open the blinds," says Harry. Louis is about to object quite vehemently when Harry kisses him. "Okay?"  
"Don't go all TFIOS on me," wails Louis.  
Harry smiles and shakes his head. "I won't, I promise."  
After a moment Louis says, "Okay."  
Harry scoops him up and carries him to the bed. Louis protests mildly but Harry gives him a small kiss and he quiets.  
"We never use your bed for anything," Louis says after having been set down. "We should use it to cuddle or something."  
Harry shakes his head as best he can whilst laying down. "Uh-uh. I like doing this," he says. He's laying next to Louis, both of them flat on their stomachs, looking into his eyes.  
"But I wanna cuddle," Louis fake whines. Harry giggles a little.  
"But then I can't see your face." Harry gently brushes a bit of Louis's hair from his forehead. "And I like your face."  
Louis laughs. "You're so... you. I love you," he adds.  
"Love you too," Harry tells him.  
"Love you more."  
"I doubt that."  
They exchange kisses for a few minutes.  
"So I suppose that's a no for venturing outdoors?" asks Harry.  
"I dunno, I'd go out if we could do this," Louis replies, giving Harry a kiss on the cheek.  
"We can," Harry tells him eagerly. He's surprised Louis would go outside for anything. "Like, we could go to a park or something, and bring a blanket-"  
"Or we could just stay right here for the rest of the day doing this," Louis suggests.  
Harry nods, although his enthusiasm is a bit dampened. "I like this. This is good."  
"Yeah, it is," agrees Louis. "Can we just… just stay here forever? Not ever have to move or go anywhere? I mean, just stay in the house together and not have to deal with people or the real world?"  
"Oh, Lou, you know I'd love to," Harry says. And he would. "But you know we have responsibilities, and people and the real world aren't so bad."  
Louis stares at him. "In the real world we have to hide. I hate not being able to even touch you when we're out there. I hate having people tell us what we can and can't do. Even when we're home they make sure we're seen outside separately just to keep up the idea that we aren't together but we are. We are," he says, and the pain in his eyes is so evident that Harry can't help but to kiss him.  
"Lou, it doesn't matter what they say, and besides, it won't last forever. You know that," Harry gently reminds him. He doesn't like Louis to be upset about anything, especially this.  
"I know! But I'm just scared that something might happen between us, something bad, and our relationship ends before we could even have a proper, normal one and we'll never know what we could've had," admits Louis. Harry wraps his too-long arms around him and Louis folds into Harry's chest like it's the one place he belongs (which Harry is certain it is).  
"I love you, Louis. Trust me when I say that I will never, ever not love you. Ever. I don't think that we will ever not love each other, so don't even think about us not being together. And I don't care that we might not have a normal relationship for a while, because I'm just happy that we have what we have."  
Louis sighs contentedly into Harry's shirt. "I love you, Harry," he says. Harry kisses his hair.  
"Love you too. Boo?" asks Harry.  
"What?" Louis looks up at him.  
Harry takes a deep breath. He doesn't know whether or not Louis is ready for this, but he thinks he's been ready since the first day they were together. Maybe even before then.  
"We've been together for almost four years now, and I love you more than I can say. I don't really know what's in the future or anything, but what I'm trying to say is, I… I want to be with you, in the future, for forever. What I'm trying to say is that I want to marry you. That is, if you want to."  
Louis pulls away from him, his eyes wide, and Harry wonders if he's made a mistake in asking. He's genuinely concerned, but then Louis says, "Why would I not want to marry you, Hazza? I love you. Yes, I will definitely marry you!" The smile on his face makes Harry's insides flutter and he thinks that this is why he wants to marry Louis, because even after /four/ years, /just/ his smile makes Harry dizzy, and he has a strong suspicion it will continue to.  
"Are you sure? I mean, this is a huge thing and people rush into marriage all the time and-" Harry realizes he's babbling and shuts up. He wants this moment to be perfect.  
"Harry. I have never wanted anything as much as I want to marry you. Okay?" Louis says, reassuring Harry.  
"Okay. But- if we do get married, I don't want you to be under the blankets anymore," Harry says, figuring it's best to establish that now.  
"Alright," Louis agrees easily. "But no more yoga outside."  
"I'm still doing yoga outside, Lou. But maybe when I'm outside you can have the blankets?" suggests Harry. He doesn't want to completely ruin Louis's little writing routine, because he knows Louis loves writing. Louis seems to like that because he smiles again.  
"Yeah, that works," he says, and Harry throws an arm around him. "Whoever said that marriage is difficult?" They giggle together for a moment.  
"Wow. So this is marriage. Compromise," says Louis. Harry wonders if he'd've given up the blankets before or not. Before he thinks too much on that, he nods and answers Louis.  
"Yes, Lou. Actually, any relationship is compromise." He gives Louis a pointed look, but smiles because he doesn't mind that it took a proposal to get rid of the blanket pile. He really doesn't.  
"Oh, shut up, Harold. You know you love me," Louis tells him. And Harry does, maybe a little too much. He's fairly certain that love doesn't discriminate, especially against age, so he doesn't think it matters that they're twenty and twenty-two or that it mattered when they were sixteen and eighteen. Love is love, no matter who it's between or how old they are or what gender they are, Harry thinks. Except maybe relatives and animals. Ew. He returns to his conversation with Louis.  
"You're right, Lou. I love you more than anything. You know that, right?" Suddenly Harry has the urge to make sure that Louis knows exactly how much he means to him. "I love you so much. More than I love the boys or my family-well, no, I love my family the same amount but differently. That's not the point, though."  
Louis laughs a little. "I know, Hazza. I love you, too. I think I might love you just the tiniest bit more than I love my family, although don't tell them that. The girls would be crushed."  
The doorbell rings, interrupting their 'I love you' session.  
"Wonder who that is?" Louis says almost absentmindedly.  
"I dunno, wanna go see?" asks Harry, although he /really/ doesn't want to move. They don't end up having to, though, because Niall screams through the door.  
"I don't know what sort of sex you guys are having and I don't want to but come and answer the door!"  
Harry giggles because for once they /aren't/ doing anything sexual, not in the slightest.  
"Sorry!" Louis bellows back. Harry laughs again. "C'mon, Hazza. Let's go see what the leprechaun wants." Louis takes Harry's hand and pulls him off the bed and out the open door. After having stumbled down the stairs, they arrive at the front door, still holding hands.  
"Yes, Irish one?" Louis asks by way of greeting.  
"Handjob?" Niall shoots back. Harry blushes but Louis just smirks.  
"Wouldn't you like to know?" The two of them stand there for a few seconds trying not to smile. It doesn't work though, because they burst out laughing and hug tightly.  
"Good to see you, mate!" Niall says enthusiastically, releasing Louis and attaching himself to Harry. "It's been what, two months?"  
"Yeah, it'd be nicer to see you if you'd loosen- your arms," Harry gasps. Niall's got a death grip around his middle and Harry loves him, he does, but /damn/ does he give tight hugs.  
"Oops, sorry!" Niall lets go quickly and grins. "I just missed you guys."  
"Yeah, two months is a long time to go without being up each other's bums," Louis quips.  
"Hey, that's your thing. I'm not judging," laughs Niall. Harry is again red, because even though sex is a thing he's not usually embarrassed about— with Louis at least—somehow that sort of thing sounds... /wrong/ coming from Niall. Like, Niall's four months older than him, but he seems so much younger, so it makes Harry a tad bit uncomfortable that Niall is always cracking sex jokes. He's also the only virgin out of all of them, still, which is probably a factor.  
"So are Liam and Zayn coming, or are they busy?" Harry asks.  
Niall shrugs. "Maybe? I'm not sure, but Liam said he'd be done with whatever he's doing in like an hour? Maybe less?"  
"Aww, but I wanted to see him and the Bradford bad boy now," giggles Louis. Harry grins at the old nickname and nudges him. "Are we gonna tell him now, or do we wait till they get here?"  
Louis looks at him blankly for a moment.  
"Tell him what?" Harry stares at him expectantly, wondering how on earth he could've forgotten.  
"Ohhhh, that… Right. No, I think we should wait for a little bit, so that we can tell everyone at once."  
"Tell us what?" Niall asks, looking between the two of them with interest. Harry stifles a laugh.  
"You'll see, just wait for Liam and Zayn to get here," Louis tells him. He squeezes Harry's hand. Harry squeezes back and smiles.  
"Well, don't just stand there, mate! C'min!" Grabbing Niall's hand with his free one, Louis pulls him inside. Harry follows, letting Louis pull him along because really, it's Louis and what else can you do but hang on? Niall, however, isn't of the same mindset and attempts to wriggle free.  
"How do you manage such an iron grip for someone so small?" he asks while struggling against Louis.  
"I am not small!" Louis says, looking mortally offended. He releases his hold on Niall and turns to Harry. "Am I small?"  
Harry looks down at him and grins. "A bit, but I love you anyways."  
Louis throws his hands in the air. "Ugh, why can't I be taller," he mutters to himself, stalking away like the drama queen he is. Harry runs up behind him and scoops him up, saying, "I wouldn't want you to be taller. I like that you're small."  
Louis frowns and Harry tries to think of a way to make him smile.  
"Hey, what's Michelle Obama's favourite vegetable?" he asks, knowing that Louis loves his bad jokes.  
"What," Louis grumbles, looking away.  
"Barackoli," Harry says, smiling stupidly down at his boy.  
Louis rolls his eyes but looks up at Harry. "I love you, but that was terrible."  
Harry snorts-or at least tries to, because he's not really sure what it should sound like but people do it all the time in books- and says,"But Lou, it was /punny/." Finally Louis cracks and allows himself to smile.  
"Alright, fine. It was half funny. Can you please put me down now?"  
Harry pouts a little. He /likes/ being able to hold Louis, likes that he's so small in comparison, but size has always been a sensitive topic for him— height wise only, god knows his cock is massive— so Harry gently puts him down.  
"Now that you two are done with your cute fest, mind telling me whatever it is you're going to say?" Niall asks impatiently.  
Louis opens his mouth to answer but his phone buzzes instead. He unlocks it quickly and checks whatever it is. Harry is annoyed because he really hates when Louis is glued to his phone.  
"Lou," he begins. Louis holds up a finger.  
"It's about Twist and Shout, Hazza. Twist and Shout is life," says Louis, looking a little deranged. He returns to reading whatever it is on his phone.  
"Do I even..." Niall trails off, and Harry shakes his head.  
"No, no you don't. Just let it pass, he'll come back once he's done blogging about the pain that one fanfiction causes him," he says.  
At the word 'fanfiction' Niall shudders. "Y'know they write that stuff about us? It's just gross."  
"Fanfiction is beautiful, and so what? They're expressing themselves in a constructive way and it makes them happy, so don't judge them," Louis says defensively. He slides his phone back in his pocket and Harry makes a mental note to steal it and change the lock, just because he can. Louis won't mind.  
"You wouldn't say that if you read some of the things they write about us, I mean, all five of us together-" Niall gags a bit. "No. That's just weird."  
"Yeah, Lou. It's a bit creepy," Harry says. Which it is. He doesn't mind that his boyfriend- no, his /fiancé/ now- writes fanfiction, but reading it about the rest of the boys is weird.  
"Have you read some?" he asks Niall incredulously.  
Niall shrugs. "Accidentally. And anyways, it's not like I read fanfiction on a regular basis," he shoots at Louis.  
"Whatever, at least I don't watch hentai!" he huffs accusatorily. Harry has no idea what hentai is, and he doesn't really know if he wants to know.  
"That was Zayn!" objected Niall. "He stole my laptop!"  
"Sure it was, because he definitely knows your password," Louis says, raising an eyebrow.  
"What's hentai?" Harry asks him, because he's heard Zayn use the word but doesn't know what it means. Louis giggles.  
"I forget you're not big on that kind of stuff. Hentai is, like, sexy anime. Anime porn, for lack of better words," he explains. "Sometimes it involves tentacles, too."  
Harry grimaces. That's disgusting. He says as much, and makes both Louis and Niall laugh.  
"Bring that up to Z, then," Louis says.  
"Wait, did you go through my computer?" Niall asks him.  
"It's not like it was hard," shrugs Louis.  
"Mate, that's messed up. I could have-" Niall begins.  
"Porn?" Louis says.  
Niall turns a faint shade of pink. "Well, yeah! But I could have like, other personal stuff in there!"  
Louis rolls his eyes. "Name one thing I don't know about you after four years."  
After a moment of thought, Niall lets out a sigh of defeat. "I've got nothing. That doesn't mean there isn't something, though," he says.  
"There's nothing we don't know about each other," Harry says happily. "Remember? We know everything about everyone." He likes the closeness that they've acquired over the years.  
"Liam's favourite position?" Niall asks immediately.  
Louis shrugs. "Ask Zayn, they fucked for a while."  
Both Harry and Niall's jaws drop.  
"They what?" sputters Niall. "When? For how long?"  
Shrugging again, Louis says nonchalantly, "Oh, it was a couple years ago, for a few months. You didn't know?" He looks at the two of them, genuinely surprised.  
"No! You knew and you didn't think to tell anyone?" Harry says, feeling upset that he wasn't privy to that knowledge. That would've made for some /lovely/ innuendos...  
"I thought you knew, honestly," Louis apologises. "They were pretty obvious."  
"Well. I'm going to be having words with them about that," says Niall.  
A knock sounds on the door and he bounds out to the front hall to get it.  
"Speak of the devil," Louis grins. He lets go of Harry's hand and throws an arm around his waist (because he can't reach his shoulders).  
"He told you /what/?" they hear Liam shriek. Giggling, Louis leads Harry to where Niall is cackling triumphantly and Liam is standing with his hands on his hips.  
"Evening, all," Louis says cheekily. Harry suppresses a laugh.  
Liam turns and stares daggers at him.  
"I thought you said you wouldn't tell them about that?" he accuses.  
"Li, they were bound to find out. Seriously," Louis points out. "Besides, now we've got another thing to embarrass you about."  
"It was two years ago," Liam huffs. "Honestly, we didn't even know what we were doing. At least /we/ never got caught." He glares at Louis.  
"Excuse me, I'm sorry my boyfriend is so hot I can't help myself," Louis says with a squeeze of Harry's bum, making Harry jump a little. "And that's not true, /I/ caught you."  
Liam rolls his eyes. "Whatever. It's over now, so don't bring it up anymore, okay?"  
"But I wanna tease Zayn," pouts Niall.  
"Noooooo," Liam says, frowning. "No."  
"Fine," Niall sighs dramatically. "Are you gonna tell us now?"  
Louis shakes his head. "Nope. Wait for Zayn to get here, then we'll tell you. Maybe."  
"Can't we tell them now, Lou?" Harry asks. He really wants the other boys to know that he's officially Louis's and Louis is officially his.  
"No, love, I want to tell them all together," says Louis gently. He takes Harry's hand again. "It's more dramatic this way." Winking, he turns back to Liam and Niall.  
"I'm gonna text Zayn and ask him when he's getting here," announces Niall. Harry giggles at his impatience. He watches as Niall pulls out his phone and quickly taps out a message.  
"Can you at least say what your little announcement is about?" Liam pries.  
"Your mum!" Louis blurts, then runs cackling out of the room, tugging Harry along with him. Liam chases them around for a while, all of them laughing the whole time. Niall stands off to the side texting Zayn and pretending to be above it all.  
After finally catching Louis, Liam sits on him and starts tickling him.  
"Get- off! Your butt is crushing me!" yelps Louis. Liam's actually being very careful not to squish the smaller boy, but Louis is still the biggest drama queen in England.  
"I swear to god if you don't get the /hell/ offa me I'll tell Zayn you wanna start fucking again," he threatens.  
Liam goes pale and stops tickling him. "You wouldn't."  
"Ahh, do I detect a flicker of fear?" Louis starts. "You still want to fuck him, don't you?"  
Harry is shocked that Louis has the audacity to ask such a question of a person sitting on top of him, and is even more shocked when Liam bites his lip and nods.  
"Knew it," Louis mumbles just before Liam claps a hand over his mouth.  
"Breathe a word of this to him and I will literally cut your organs out and shove them up your butt," he threatens.  
"Violent much?" Louis says, muffled, but he sighs and nods. Liam removes his hand and gets up.  
"That goes for you too, Harry," he says, and goes into the other room. Louis remains on the floor, but makes grabby hands up at Harry. Harry lies down next to him on his stomach, resting his head on his arm and just looking at him.  
"What?" asks Louis.  
Harry shakes his head. "Nothin'. I just like looking at you." Louis smiles at him.  
"C'mere," he says, reaching for Harry, who complies and wraps his arms around his boy. He kisses the top of Louis's head, and murmurs an 'I love you' into his hair. Louis folds into Harry and sighs happily.  
"Love you more."  
"You guys are weird," they hear someone say. Harry looks up and delightedly finds Zayn standing over them, looking at them amusedly.  
"Z! Come join the cuddling," Harry offers, taking one arm from around Louis and reaches up to him. Zayn accepts his hand and is pulled down to join them. He ends up next to Harry with his arm over Louis.  
"NIALL! LIAM!" Louis yells, even though they're in the next room.  
"What?" they yell back in unison.  
"GROUP CUDDLE!"  
Niall comes hurtling around the corner and throws himself onto the growing pile of cuddling lads with no regard for his knee. Wriggling into the mess of limbs, he situates himself against Zayn, his face buried in his neck.  
"Mmmf. You need to shave, mate," he says, and they all laugh. Liam comes in and looks down at them, all tangled together.  
"I should take a picture," he chuckles evilly.  
"Go for it. I look great today," Louis quips, making Harry dissolve into giggles. Zayn grabs Liam's hand when he moves closer and forces him into their heap. Harry grins when Niall wriggles away from Zayn to allow Liam to take his place, instead spooning Harry, who's not quite sure how it happens. He goes with it, though.  
"Can you tell us the thing now?" asks Liam, resting his head on Zayn's shoulder.  
"Can I?" Harry asks Louis, who seems to be pretty much in charge of their announcement (which Harry doesn't mind- Louis is /always/ in charge). Louis nods and Harry takes a deep breath.  
"I proposed," he says, and it's dead silent for a minute.  
"Seriously, Haz? That's great!" Liam enthuses. "Wait, did he say yes? /Did you say yes/?" He tries to sit up to look at Louis, but can't because he's half buried under Zayn at this point.  
"Of course he said yes, idiot," Niall says. He hugs Harry as best he can whilst spooning him. "Congrats, by the way."  
"Yeah, I said yes." Louis's voice is muffled by Harry's chest. He lifts his head a bit and repeats himself.  
"So you guys are engaged now?" asks Zayn.  
Harry tries to shrug without disturbing either Louis or Niall. "Yeah, although, I didn't get a ring. It was sort of a spontaneous thing." Liam attempts to sit up again, although Harry suspects it's just to press Zayn's body against his without being conspicuous. Zayn shifts, and Liam lies flat again quickly.  
"Right, because you're all about the planning," Liam remarks, his eyes telling Harry and Niall 'don't you dare say a word to him or I will cut you'.  
Now that he knows about Liam liking Zayn, Harry's probably going to be reading a lot more into every time they touch. He raises an eyebrow at Liam (his right one, he can never get his left one to move on its own but feels like he could achieve a whole new range of expressions if he could). Leaning his head down to where Louis has buried his face in his chest, Harry whispers, "We've got to help Liam out somehow, can you help make a bunch of innuendos or something? Maybe it'll make him uncomfortable and something'll happen?" He feels Louis laugh against him.  
"I'll try. God knows Payno needs it."  
"What're you two whispering about?" Niall asks, removing Zayn's leg from where it somehow ended up on his and placing it on Liam, smirking.  
"Who the best man should be," Louis replies nonchalantly.  
"Oh my gosh, Lou. Who /is/ going to be the best man?" Harry asks in a small state of panic. Having to choose between his three best friends will probably be the worst thing ever.  
"Before this goes any farther, can we please get off the floor? This is gonna kill my back," Liam complains.  
"S'not the only thing that kills your back," Harry cracks, disentangling himself from the mass of limbs and helping Louis up.  
Liam shoots him a glare as Zayn stands and offers a hand to him. Niall stays on the floor.  
"Christ, forget about me much?" he jokes.  
"Sorry, Ni," Harry apologises. He'd help him up too, but Louis has attached himself around Harry's torso, making it difficult to move. "Z, help him up?" Zayn makes no move to, in fact is sort of staring at Liam, who's completely oblivious.  
Grumbling, Niall stands by himself. "Couples," he mutters, making Liam blush deep red. Zayn averts his gaze and pretends to be interested in a non-existent spot on the wall.  
Stifling a laugh, Harry presses a kiss into Louis's hair.  
"Lou, d'you wanna lay down on the couch with me?" he asks, and the older boy nods. So Harry picks him up bridal style, because why the hell not, they're engaged, and carries him to their couch. He lies down and arranges Louis on top of his long frame.  
"'M tired, Hazza," Louis murmurs.  
"You okay? You were fine a minute ago," says Harry with concern. He knows that constantly going a hundred miles an hour can take its toll on Louis, so he sometimes crashes like this, crashes hard. Still, something might be wrong. It's just a habit of his to be overly cautious.  
"Yeah. Just… tired. Wanna cuddle," he says sleepily.  
"Alright, /fiancé/," Harry says with a huge grin.  
Louis smiles sleepily up at him. "Love you."  
"Love you more, Boo."  
"Love /you/ more," Louis says, because he's always got to have the last word. His eyes drift shut and Harry presses a kiss to his head. Louis gives a content little sigh, snuggling into Harry's chest. Harry wraps his arms around his boy and thinks that Louis is his whole world, or if not, the only thing that matters in it.  
Liam fake retches at their soppiness, but Harry could care less, because they're finally going to make honest men of each other, and he can't wait.  
"So you two fucked for a while, right?" Niall says, looking between Liam and Zayn and unknowingly interrupting Harry's moment of domestic bliss. Liam goes red (again) and Zayn stares at the Irish boy.  
"What? Who t-" A look of comprehension comes over Zayn's face. "Louis. Of course. Harry, I'm gonna kill your fiancé."  
Looking over at Zayn, Harry frowns and says, "Why? We would've found out eventually, y'know." Liam is attempting to leave the room, inching his way towards the door. Niall notices and orders, "Stay. We are going to talk about this, like, proper talk."  
"What's there to talk about?" Liam asks, his cheeks getting darker red by the minute. "It happened, it's over."  
Niall rolls his eyes. "Like hell it is! You-" he points at Zayn. "You don't even want to admit it happened, and you-" Liam shies away from his accusations. "You still want to fuck him."  
Zayn's jaw drops. Niall smirks again. "Now. Talk." Harry knows Louis would want to hear this, but he doesn't want to wake the smaller boy lying on top of him. He looks so cute.  
"You..." It appears that Zayn is at a loss for words. Liam can't even look him in the eye. He only nods a little. Niall looks very self-satisfied.  
"Liam, d'you like, like-like him?" he asks as Harry brushes some of Louis' hair away from his eyes and kisses the top of his head.  
"I…um." Liam looks very uncomfortable. "Maybe?" he says in a voice barely above a whisper.  
Zayn's eyes widen. Niall cackles and Harry shoots him a look.  
"Ni, maybe you pushed it a little too far?" he says, noticing Liam's complexion has become scarlet. Currently he's burying his face in his hands, trying to hide.  
"D'you think so?" Looking between the two embarrassed boys, Niall shrugs. Zayn moves so he's standing in front of Liam.  
"Liam?" His voice is soft, softer than Harry's ever heard it. He wonders if that's how he and Louis sound when they talk to each other. He also wonders if Zayn might like Liam, like, like-like him.  
"Liiiaam," Zayn sing-songs, trying to get the blushing boy to take his hands from his face.  
"C'mon, I want to talk t'you."  
Slowly, Liam drops his hands. He looks at Zayn shyly, and Zayn takes his hand and leads him out of the room.  
"He totally likes him," Niall says, and Harry nods in agreement. "I wonder what they're doing in there?" he continues, nodding in the direction the two of them left.  
"Probably snogging?" Harry suggests. "Lou's gonna be so mad he missed this," he adds as an afterthought.  
"Why don't you wake him up, then?"  
"I'm up, you leprechaun. You're very loud," mumbles Louis, his eyes still closed. Harry kisses his forehead. "What'd I miss, then?"  
"Liam like-likes Zayn and they just left the room and are probably sexing right now," Niall reports. Louis' eyes fly open and he sits up. Harry props his knees up to support him. It's a thoughtless gesture, but one he's done countless times over the years.  
"Why didn't you wake me, then?" he demands.  
"Sorry, love. You just looked so cute, I didn't want to," grins Harry sheepishly. Louis' face softens.  
"I love you," he says, and Niall sighs.  
"Are we going to go listen in on them, or…?"  
Louis nods and slides off of Harry's lap, them helps the younger boy up. Harry wraps an arm around Louis' shoulders and mouths 'I love you' as they wander around, trying to figure out where Liam and Zayn went. Voices float out of the dining room, so the three of them sit against the wall and wait, Harry holding Louis' hand.  
"…I didn't," they hear Liam say. "Not ever."  
Zayn is quiet for a moment. "Li, why didn't you just… tell me? I mean, everything- what we did- I'd've done it differently."  
"I didn't want to ruin anything, or make it awkward…"  
"Oh, you're so stupid. Come here."  
There's silence, then Zayn calls, "You can come out now."  
Niall pops around the corner and Harry follows suit with a sleepy Louis hanging onto his hand like a little kid.  
"I told you so," Niall says, grinning like mad. Zayn is not so much hugging Liam as holding him close, and Harry can't help but to smile at them.  
"Sorry this happened today, I mean, we didn't really mean to steal your thunder or anything, what with your proposing and all," Liam says, but he doesn't look too sorry.  
"S'okay, I'm gonna do it again eventually, but this time do it proper romantic, with a ring and everything," Harry tells him, and it's true, he really doesn't mind. He's just happy that the two of them finally confessed and cleared everything up.  
"Mind telling me about that?" asks Louis, who's looking more and more tired by the minute. "I'm the one being proposed to and such."  
Harry leans into him. "'Course I'll tell you when I'm gonna propose, soon as I know." He smiles down at his fiancé, happy to be able to use the word. He's completely forgotten the other three people in the room.  
"'Kay, then. Harold?"  
Grinning stupidly at him, Harry replies, "Yes, Lewis?"  
"Carry me to bed?"  
"Of course." He scoops up the older boy for the third (maybe more than that, Harry doesn't think it matters) time that afternoon. As they make their way towards the stairs, Niall says, "Get a room, the lot of ya. I'll see you tomorrow, and I'm gonna bet at least half of you 're gonna have sex hair." With that, the 'leprechaun' heads toward the front door.  
Harry laughs. "Shall we prove him wrong?" he asks of the boy in his arms, who's very close to asleep.  
"Mmmm. No, I think. But later. Wanna cuddle."  
They start up the stairs, only pausing twice: to yell goodbye to Niall and then to Liam and Zayn. Harry thinks it wouldn't be a bad thing if instead of Liam… and Zayn, if it was Liam and Zayn. Kind of like how he and Louis are HarryandLouis, but not as close. Maybe after a while they'd get there. Eventually he makes it to the top of the stairs and gently lays a sleeping Louis down on their bed, then pulls the duvet over him. He looks fondly at him for a moment, wishing he could take a picture and tweet it so everybody could see this side of him, but. He can't. They aren't even out yet. Well, they /are/, but only to their families (the boys' families included), management and the boys. But not to the world. Which is sort of what Louis was talking about earlier. Harry shakes his head. His mind often wanders a bit when he's looking at Louis. Although it's barely five, he decides that now is a good time to go to bed. So he strips down to his boxers and wriggles under the duvet with his fiancé.  
"Love you, Lou," Harry murmurs, cuddling him. He thinks he could do it all day.  
"Love you too," he hears Louis whisper, or maybe he just imagines it and the small smile on his face…?

**Author's Note:**

> Liked it? Didn't? Let me know on tumblr: theartistformerlyknownasronald


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